My first case of Georges Duboeuf 2000 Beaujolais Nouveau is on order. I usually go through two or three cases between November and February.

I am told that the ship arrives here in Norfolk in time for Thanksgiving. I was also told that due to demand, I might get a partial case a day or so before Thanksgiving and then the rest afterwards........

The Beaujolais Tasting Council in Beaujolais has declared that it is one of the best vintages in a long while and should set the mark for this century. They had an ideal growing season as well as an early harvest which allowed them to pick at optimal maturity. This should make for some good stuff. I got this information from http://www.beaujolais.net

They WOULD say that, they say something like that EVERY year....Here is our take:

Beaujolais Nouveau? Non, Merci! Vino Novello? Certo!

The French (airlines!) have made a multi-million dollar industry out of shipping the new vintage of Beaujolais to our doors just in time for the Turkey Day festivities. Sounds like a great idea, right? Wrong! Why? Because they insist on blowing up islands and think Jerry Lewis is a genius? No! While that sure doesn't help, this is about wine. Read on, friends. First of all, the whole point of the annual Beaujolais Nouveau craze in France is to celebrate the local harvest, whenever Mother Nature decrees that it occur. But, when the marketing geniuses in the French Dept. of Agriculture decided (for all the right reasons, see our treatise on this elsewhere) that nothing could be better with Thom Gobbler than a fresh, fruity, non-tannic red they overlooked one crucial issue: Thanksgiving is on the third Thursday in November come rain or shine (and this year that is on the almost impossibly early 23rd)

Once you make the commitment to ship on B-Day you must bottle and pack on B-Day minus 14, rack on B-Day - 16, ferment on B-Day - 19, crush on B-Day - 20 and pick on B-Day - 22 whether the grapes are ripe or not! About half the time they make it and the wines are delicious, about half the time they don't and the wines are green and nasty. But, every time they ship them here air express which cost almost as much as the wine! Our solution is threefold:

the explosively zesty Novio delle Dolomite (a blend of Teroldego and Marzemino and usualy under $7) Mionetto Novello 2000 ($8.99) made from Corvina (the principal grape in Amarone) and Merlot from vineyards hundreds of miles south of Beaujolais where it is possible to make great wine every vintage and ship it by boat to your feast with time (and dinero!) to spare and, for those who don't do red wines, the hot new Bodega Lurton Pinot Gris 2000 ($4.99) from Argentina where they harvest in March.

A public service message from WINE EXPO and The Society for the Prevention of Jaded Palates who remind you that the moderate consumption of wine with meals can lead to good digestion, convivial conversation and generally civilized living.

As I have gathered from the one or two posts I have read from Roberto, I think he likes Italian wines. Some strange vibe I pick up from him. Anyways, the beaujolais wines have been my favorite thus far, a short distance ahead of the Chiantis. So I have been looking foward to the beaujolais nouveau for a while. So what if the frogs market it to us wine idiot yanks for turkey day. Its a good quaff. But I will certainly try the stuff Roberto is mentioning as well, the guy seems to know what he's talking about.

The essential problem is that the target date for "marketing to Americans for T-day" bears no synchronicity to the harvest. In days of old the festival in Paris was whenever the wine was ready and it was like Paul Revere running into town screaming about the Redcoats when the bistros put up their "Nouveau est arrive!" signs, it was actual news, now it is more scripted than George W's statement to the nation last night (when you look up "deer in the headlights in an online dictionary is there a Quicktime clip of that?).

And, NO, we NEVER sell Beaujolais Nouveau and ALWAYS have four of five altenatives that are better AND cheaper. The year when the Frogs were blowing up islands in the South Pacific we made a huge banner that read "Nuclear Free Nouveau!", got on local television and drove the French consul CRAZY.

Last year a local, quite famous FRENCH cooking equipment store got in our face, staged a bliind tasting to "prove" the superiority of the French stuff and the Mezzacorona Novello won hands down, they ended up serving it at THEIR party and it was $5.99!!!

What surprises me is that none of the wineries in the South of France have jumped on this train as they would have the same advantages as the Italians: earlier, quality harvests and the chance to send it by ship to be price competitive. AND, I must remind all of you, I started in this career as the largest buyer of FRENCH wines in the Southern US and have reached my current position through experience and research.

It is here in Norfolk. Had some today for lunch with my turkey wrap ...........

But my first taste was not Georges Duboeuf. It was 2000 Maison de Lamartine Beaujolais Nouveau.

12.5 % Alcohol, light bodied, berry fruit on the nose and on the palate, just enough acid to handle not only the sandwich but also the mustard style potato salad served on the side. A very short, but pleasing finish with, believe it or not, a hint of banana and, of course, very very light on the tannin.

Not the best qpr but since I liked it, not bad either at $10.00.

Shortly afterward, I received a call that my case of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau had arrived. I'll be picking it up tomorrow. Plus I'll probably buy another bottle of the Maison de Lamartine becuause it will be interesting to compare the two.

We will be having the Georges Duboeuf Nouveau with the Turkey dinner, because that is the wine being served on the menu at the place where we'll be dining.

Well, the GD Nouveau arrived in Bucksport, ME yesterday afternoon. Not bad! We had a bottle last night with goat cheese and crackers. Not bad! Actually it was the best be have ever had, and that included living in the neighborhood where it's made for a couple of years. Spectacular transparent red color for the eye, and red cherry aroma on the nose. Gobs of fresh fruit up front, and nice balance with no complexity summing the whole thing up. Viewed as a "barrel tasting" of the '00 gamay crop, I'm very optimistic.

Wunderbar, IK, thanks. I haven't picked mine up yet, but now I'm really looking forward to it. (It's a lot easier to raid the cellar again than to drive 20 miles each way in a blustery rain to buy a wine that could turn out to taste like unripened plums.)

Yesterday, a bit more sober than the evening before, I visited one of our better wine shops.

They did not yet have the Georges Duboeuf 2000 Beaujolais Nouveau. However, they did have the Maison de Lamartine.

I asked their wine consultant to give me her impression of the Lamartine. She said, "strawberries and bananas." She then went on further to exclaim that that was really amazing.

Who would ever expect to get tropical fruit in a French wine?

I feel that I am now justified in my previous post on my description of the wine.

If you like fruit and you like bananas, then get this stuff. It is wonderful and I don't think it will last long at all. It is less than $10.00 at some places and around $10.00 at others. It should be less than that, but the asking price is a result of our demand for the product, IMHO.

Finally picked up my reserved case of Duboeuf's 2000 Nouveau yesterday. Quaffed it last night before dinner, then sipped it with oak-smoked turkey and scalloped spuds. Wow! A brilliant ruby in the glass with a gorgeous floral nose and mouthful of fruit. His best nouveau in at least a decade, IMHO. A superb party wine or just plain old relaxing wine. One case won't be near enough!

Last evening I was finally sober enough to pop open a bottle of GD 2000.

Gobs of great fruit on the nose and on the palate, this bright ruby red wine has the clarity of a diamond and a wonderful, light-bodied mouthfeel. Short finish full of fruit and a slight tingle on the tongue from the acid. Not a hint of bubble-gum in this one, for sure.

Hotwine, I think you are correct in your assessment. One case will NOT be enough!

If we could consider this a barrel tasting of what is to come from Beaujolais, I will be impatiently waiting for the release of the 2000 Crus!